Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1895 — SMALLEST BOOK IN THE WORLD. [ARTICLE]

SMALLEST BOOK IN THE WORLD.

The Story of Perrault, Printed in Paris. Is Smaller Than a Postage Stamp. New York Sun. The smallest book ever printed has just been issued by Messrs. Pairault, of Paris. It is the story of Perrault, Little Hop o’ My Thumb. This diminutive volume contains four engravings, and it is printed iu movable type. It contains eighty pages of printed matter. The book is 38 millimetres long by 38 millimetres wide. The thickness of this volume is 6 millimetres, and its weight is only 5 grammes. The “dwarf book" of the Chicago Exhibition could be held on a postage stamp of the Columbian variety, but it is quite surpassed by this product of - the French press. The little French volume, with its illustrations and its eighty pages of printed matter, is not ranch larger than a one-cent piece. It is a complete book in every respect, the binding being perfect, the pages duly numbered, and the titlepageappearing with all the formality of the most dignified volume. The pages can only be read by the use of a microscope, but then it is found that the printing is clear and that the proof-reading has been excellently done. Several French swells are carrying these volumes inside their watch covers. A copy presented to a French library has been duly entered in the catalogues and placed on the shelves.